The upcoming 20th anniversary season of Falls Church’s Creative Cauldron theater production and education non-profit will also mark its first season of producing entirely original works and comes as anticipation grows of the brand new venue now under construction as part of the Broad and Washington mixed use development up the street.
Cauldron’s founder and producing artistic director, Laura Connors Hull, said this week, “Our twentieth year marks the perfect opportunity to celebrate creativity by supporting the work of individual artists. Building upon our prior work through our ‘Bold New Works’ initiative, this season promises to be one of our best.”
Creative Cauldron’s 2022-23 season includes a diverse range of programming. Professional productions include: a world premiere musical, “Ichabod: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by resident artists Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith; “Diagnosed,” the follow up to 2022’s “Girls of Madison Street,” by Helen Hayes Award winning performer Iyona Blake; and the regional premiere of “Audrey: The New Musical,” celebrating the life of film and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn, with book, music and lyrics written by Danielle Moore. Creative Cauldron will revive its original Christmas musical “The Christmas Angel,” written by Conner and Smith for the holiday season.
Creative Cauldron’s educational arm, the Learning Theater Ensemble, will produce a new adaptation of the classic story “The Princess and the Goblin” by George MacDonald, and a revival of Creative Cauldron’s original Learning Theater adaptation of “The Snow Queen.” The season’s theatrical offerings are complemented by live music throughout the year by three concert series: Holiday cabarets in December, the annual “Passport to the World of Music” Festival and the Summer cabaret series.
Early next year, it is anticipated that a special event in anticipation of the new venue will be held for supporters of the Cauldron.
Creative Cauldron’s 2022-2023 Performance Season begins in early October with “Ichabod: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (October 6 – 30, 2022), Music by Matt Conner, Book and Lyrics by Stephen Gregory Smith, Directed by Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith, Musical Director Paige Rammelkamp, Featuring the Musical Theater Ensemble. Sponsors: Mark Werblood and Jon Wiant.
The credits call audiences to “journey back in time to a quiet glen called Sleepy Hollow, where the denizens of the town are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their new school master, Ichabod Crane. An adaptation of Washington Irving’s Classic tale of lore, love and the legendary Headless Horseman, this World Premiere Musical by the critically acclaimed creative team Conner and Smith arrives just in time for autumn leaves, pumpkins, and ghost tales around the campfire.”
Next comes “The Princess and the Goblin” (November 4 – 22, 2022) A Learning Theater production adapted from the classic novel by George MacDonald by Laura Connors Hull and Lenny Mendez, Directed by Laura Connors Hull, Lenny Mendez and Will Stevenson . with music and lyrics by Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith, sponsored by Halms, Jenkins LLC
The story line goes like this: When the curious Princess Irene discovers a secret stair to the top turret of the castle, it leads to a wonderful revelation that she has a fairy grandmother. At the same time, the miner’s son Curdie overhears a fiendish plot by the goblins who live below the mountain. It will take all their skill and courage, and the help of Irene’s magic ring, to foil the goblins’ schemes. Adapted for the stage with music, humor and wit that has become the signature of Creative Cauldron’s Learning Theater productions, this show has appeal for every age.
Next comes “The Christmas Angel,” from December 2 — 18, a Bold New Works musical, with music by Matt Conner, book and lyrics by Stephen Gregory Smith, directed by Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith and sponsored by Quinn’s Auction Gallery.
It is based on a little-known 1910 novel by Abbie Farwell Brown. It is a tale about an elderly spinster and her heartwarming transformation into the Christmas spirit echoing Dickens and the journey of Ebeneezer Scrooge. Critics call it “a charming, gentle parable about what really matters, not just at the holidays, but always.”
Holiday cabarets commence Dec. 12 — 20, and the Passport to the World of Music series runs Jan. 7 — Feb. 2023. “Diagnosed” runs Feb. 9 — March 5, 2023, followed by “The Snow Queen” based on a Hans Christian Anderson tale by Ellen Selby March 17 — April 2, and “Audrey: The New Musical,” book music and lyrics by Danielle Moore, May 11 — June 4.
In the case of “Audrey,” it tells the story of Audrey Hepburn. “Winning both the Tony and the Oscar in her first year on the Hollywood scene, Audrey Hepburn went on to become one of the most iconic stars in motion picture history. She commanded the screen opposite nearly every leading man of her day, from William Holden, Mel Ferrer, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart and even Fred Astaire.
Her own life was far less charmed than the lucky-in-love heroines she portrayed. Audrey follows a reluctant icon from her days as a ballerina-turned-spy in Nazi-occupied Holland, to her heartbreaking attempts to create the family that the war robbed from her. Spotlighting her accidental revolution of style, sexuality, and singledom for a generation of women in a certain little black dress, ‘Audrey’ re-examines the life of a legend through song, dance, and the technicolor lens of her most iconic screen performances.” Cauldron’s summer concert and cabaret series will run June 30 — August 19 to conclude the 2022-2023 season.
Creative Cauldron is an award-winning non-profit theater and educational arts organization whose innovative programs in the performing and visual arts embody collaboration, experimentation and community engagement.
Creative Cauldron was founded by Producing Director Laura Connors Hull in 2002. In June of 2009, Creative Cauldron acquired a permanent home in ArtSpace Falls Church, a 3,000 square foot flexible arts space that provides a venue for year-round classes, live performances of theater, music and dance and visual art exhibits
Programs are presented in part through grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, ArtsFairfax, the City of Falls Church, the Little City CATCH Foundation the Ross-Roberts Fund for the Arts, the Morgan Fund, and the Robert W and Gladys S Meserve Charitable Trust. Generous corporate and individual sponsors also support creative Cauldron’s programs.
